


Children in the Flame

by whinyspacebratt



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Eventual Smut, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Haters gonna hate, Headcanon, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm new, It's going to be very angsty and smuty, My First Work in This Fandom, Not Incest, Ok to be serious, Pining, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Sorry Not Sorry, The Author Regrets Nothing, Unrequited Love, Young Ben Solo, Young Rey
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 17:52:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6576514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whinyspacebratt/pseuds/whinyspacebratt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He is not to them what he is to me," I thought. "He is not of their kind. I believe he is of mine- I am sure he is- I feel akin to him- I understand the language of his countenance and his movements: though rank and wealth sever us widely, I have something in my brain and heart, in my blood and nerves, that assimilates me mentally to him." <br/>-Jane Eyre</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Prologue:

Kylo Ren could only watch as the chasm grew wider. Propped up on his good arm, the other sliced and sizzling against the snow –the tendons probably shredded up-, he could only watch as the girl was being torn farther and farther from him. His face was stinging with the fresh cut of her lightsaber and contorted into a grimace, his shoulder was burning, and his arm was rendered useless. Thus, his eyes seemed to be the only functioning thing, so he watched.

He held no fear for the planet that was collapsing right under him, the tremors of the ground ruining his arm’s balance. He did not care that his body would be obliterated within the infernos of the heart of the snowy planet. He never did care about what would happen to him; he just cared about what he was supposed to be doing. He never stopped. He was Snoke’s very own well-oiled machine. 

He was failing, not the Supreme Leader’s orders - no, his own orders, and that was his fear. Watching her, the distance growing between them, the girl’s figure becoming smaller and smaller till the ground halted and the chasm only shook with dark smoke. She stared at him from across the wide stretch, halted with some realization- maybe she remembered- and then she turned, and was running into the woods that seemed to eat her up in its eternal blackness. He had failed. Rey was gone. He might as well been.

Now would have been a good time to die. Master of the Knights of Ren slain by the very own girl who he had once spared. Simply because of compassion. It was sickening. He didn’t fight it though.

She didn’t remember, how could she, she was only five standard years, on the verge of her sixth birthday. He didn’t blame her, it was disheartening and he hated the feeling within his chest upon realizing she had no clue who he was or at least, what he once was. Nor, could he have blamed her for not having the same visions. The strange conjurings created in his head at night. Not until he had seen Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber fly into her hand did he get confirmation that Rey was indeed the girl from his visions, the delicate flower he had once known, now a women warrior. He had seen it in a vision. She had not. He knew that much from her confusion of his murmured words, “It is you.” 

She paid no attention and continued to slash at him. With all of his training and preparation to smother light, it seemed that she was his undoing. Ever since he heard about a girl from Jakku, everything in his life had become unraveled. He had thought it couldn’t possibly be his girl from Jakku, whom he had long forgotten within his consumption of the dark side. The little girl in which he had dropped off to Unkar Plutt to give to Lor San Tekka, on that backwards planet, desolate of anything worthwhile, to make sure she would never cross paths with him again. It spared him from having to kill her, like Snoke had trained him to do, or worst, it spared him from having to suffocate her light and make her a creature of darkness. Rey was his little sunshine, light was what she was made of; he saw it as she sliced open his face, fire within her hazel eyes. 

So upon finding her in the woods of Takodana and seeing her in the flesh for the first time in fourteen years, it was staggering and yet he still remained composed. Or at least tried to until she made the remark about his mask when ‘interrogating’ her. He couldn’t help but press at the edges of the helmet and watch her face transform when seeing him without the helmet. The realization never came. She didn’t recognize him. Not as…Ben Solo. 

Kylo had thought maybe with her realizing who he was, she would drop him as an adversary, as an enemy, stop looking at him with disgust and hate, which in itself made him aggravated. But she didn’t and for one of the first times as Kylo Ren, he was utterly confused on what to do. He resorted to going easy on her, pushing at her mind with what he considered to be a lot gentler than what he did with the Resistance’s best pilot, and then swiftly leaving once she entered his mind. It was most definitely his Rey once she did that.

And then things led to another, a whole blur of events within hours of each other. She had escaped and he was furious and he killed Han Solo and he saw them watching his betrayal and then he was out in the snow fighting the traitor who had dared to touch Rey and then he was forced to fight her as she fought for that traitor and now he lay in the snow, drowning in his cluttered thoughts. 

He wished that death would come sooner so he didn’t have to sit there and think about her any longer. At least Rey still remembered him as Ben Solo, oh wait, Rey doesn’t even remember Ben Solo. In the end, Rey will only remember him as someone she wants to die. And with that last thought, Kylo resigned to punching his crossbow wound with his good arm, hoping that he will bleed out quicker than having to incinerate in the exploding planet. He thinks he’d die for her. Maybe she could forgive him after he was dead.


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Origins of Kylo Ren

Chapter 1:

 

“Ben, how was the trip home?” were the first things that came out of Uncle Luke’s mouth once when he got off the Falcon. Peering through the sunlight, Ben Solo frowned, already hearing the engines of his father’s ship veer away.  
Dad never stayed; Uncle Luke was too busy to talk anyways. His father’s form of goodbye was, “Bye kid, if that boy gives you trouble punch him again,” and backtracking, “uh, don’t tell your mom that,” and ruffled his hair and everything. But Ben could always tell his dad never knew how to talk to him based on the hesitance in his words. His mom did, but never his dad. 

It always made him sad to know that his father, one of the most talkative and charismatic people in the galaxy, couldn’t even manage to talk to him. Was he that uncomfortable to be around? Was he that different? Mom said it was because he doesn’t understand the Force and the feelings that come with it. No Mom, it’s because he just doesn’t understand me. Sometimes, he even thinks his own mother doesn’t understand him; it seems like that the old voice in his head is the only one that truly has.  
It would help if his parents were around more often.

“It was good,” Ben resigned to saying, the usual. Luke didn’t make any indication of seeing the boy’s frustration; he only leant down and helped the young boy carry his luggage. 

“That’s good, I talked to your parents a bit, so you’re going to stay at the Academy for another year?” Luke looked down at him with warm eyes, his free hand patting his back. The mechanical fingers of the hand felt cold against Ben’s shirt.

“Yup,” he said, popping the p for emphasis, sending his Uncle a smile back. 

The two walked up the wooden steps cut into hill, leading up into the main grounds of the school. The Academy was not very large; it had to make up for the lost generations of Jedi in such short notice. The academies before the extermination of their kind were extensive facilities with student dorms, cafeterias, and different training rooms. Now, the Jedi learned on the small island of the planet Yiuvis. The school’s student dorms were stone huts inspired by the first Jedi temples and the cafeteria was under a wood pavilion and the training room was just the nature outside. It was a beginning nevertheless. Ben couldn’t help but admire Uncle Luke’s determination. Luke would tell him that they didn’t need anything fancy; he learned how to be a Jedi with nothing but a swamp and a Yoda. It would be a shame if something were to ruin his uncle’s dream. Ben wanted it to work out for him.

That didn’t mean Ben enjoyed being at the Academy though. He wanted to be home, with his mom and dad. Anywhere but here, where the other initiates seemed to detest him, whether it was because of his ‘special treatment’, his lineage, or just who he was as a person. Not to mention, he had to wear that stupid padawan braid amongst his dark wavy hair. It was a nuisance when he wanted to run his fingers through it, a habit of his.

“Most of the students have arrived. You’ll see your friends in a moment,” Uncle Luke stated as they went up the last few steps. Friends? Since when did he have friends? He was about as oblivious to Ben’s crippling loneliness as his parents were. “You’ll notice that we have a lot more newcomers this year. Maybe this year you can start helping me teach?” 

Great more people.

“Yeah ok,” he kind of like the idea of teaching someone.

“It’ll be fun.”

Entering into the clearing, Ben internally groaned. At least fifty kids were there, a lot more than last year’s thirty, all of them were already in groups of friends, chatting and gossiping. A polar opposite from his father, Ben Solo was shy and socially awkward; situations like these made him aggravated. “Here we are,” Luke grinned, setting down Ben’s luggage, “go place your stuff over there and Artoo will bring them to your room. I’ve got to talk to some parents so you have fun and meet some new friends.” 

And just like that, Uncle Luke was gone, his tan robes billowing against the faint breeze. Ben watched him leave and was going to sigh before R2-D2 beeped loudly beside him. Looking down at the droid, he joked, “Luke put you on clean up duty?”

The blue and white astromech droid seemed to share his annoyance when he whistled in response. Nevertheless, Ben watched Artoo drag his bags with his retractable claw across the clearing, obviously going to put them in his room for him. 

Clenching and unclenching his fists, a nervous tendency of his, Ben looked around at the other initiates. Maybe I should go and apologize to Fitch for punching him in the face last year- no, no he deserved it (Uncle Luke wasn’t too happy about it though, telling him all that crap about anger leads to hate, etc. etc.) The wise man in his head begged to differ, it pleased the strange entity, as much as he tried to block the words out.

Warm, baby smooth hands suddenly encased one of Ben’s clenched ones. “Why are you so angry?” a small voice asked curiously. He nearly jumped out of his skin. 

Whirling his focus down, he found a tiny youngling blinking up at him with a toothy smile. Her hands massaged the fisted hand by his side as if trying to unravel it from its coiled ball. He would have found it funny if she had not crept up on him like that. He quickly shook her off him.

“Wha-, I’m not angry. How did you get here?” he flustered. He hadn’t ever seen this tiny being before, nor someone so small.

“I’m new!” the girl beamed. She seemed to be missing a tooth, but her smile had slight dimples. Her hazel eyes almost looked a muted green with her excitement. Now that he thought of it, she kind of reminded him of a tiny sun. “I’m an orphan from Coruscant.” She even had the Coruscanti accent.

“My name’s Rey!”

Her name surely was reminiscent to that of a sun.

“I’m Ben,” he said, not really knowing what possessed him to say it, and then deciding to add his last name after a hesitance, “Ben Solo.” The girl made no indication of knowing what being a Solo meant, and for that he was relieved. 

“You’re funny looking,” Rey stated. She had to squint up at his tall frame, the sun in her eyes. He felt the tips of his large ears get red and was thankful for his hair to cover it; it was degrading to know a little kid had the power to humiliate him like this.

Caught off guard at first, Ben gaped, “W-well that isn’t very nice. You shouldn’t be talking, you’re small.”

The small girl glared up at him, her hands propping themselves on her hips. “Maybe you’re just freakishly tall.” 

Not knowing what to say to her again, she still managed to best him, Rey spoke for him, “I like how you look though.” Ben remained quiet, feeling himself grow awkward as he shuffled his feet and began to clench his hands. He felt her own hands encase his again and rub at them. He didn’t shake them away this time.

“Whose this?” a new voice joined. 

Turning around, Ben’s dark eyes met that of Speeds Utiche, the closet Ben had to that of a best friend. The same age as Ben, he was only a little bit shorter than him, with his blonde hair now shaved, his padawan braid sticking out like a sore thumb. Speeds was everyone’s friend, funny and charming, everything Ben couldn’t be, but he was a friend who remained with him. And that was all Ben could ask for.

“That’s Rey,” Ben decided to answer for her.

The older boy bent down to the girl, “Hey kiddo’, I’m Speeds.”

“You have a funny name,” she giggled. It was a cute sound.

“And you just like insulting people, don’t you?” Ben said, still thinking about her comment on his appearance.

“I only insulted you, not him,” Rey quipped back. For such a young girl, she was extremely bright. “If it’s bothering you that much, you should wear a mask over your face and then I won’t say it’s funny looking.”

“Oh man this kid is something,” Speeds commented, elbowing Ben. He seemed to think the kid was an absolute riot by the way he was laughing at her every word.

“She sure is,” he sarcastically muttered. Rey seemed to enjoy the attention, practically glowing in the appraisal. “Whatever, let’s get going to the opening ceremony.”

Rey followed along.

 

Incinerating along with the planet never came for Kylo Ren. Despite how much he had wanted it to happen. Within minutes, General Hux was standing above him with a translucent smug expression as he sneered down at the dying man. The tracker on his belt found him. It led the First Order to what he wanted to be his grave.  
Kylo really did not want his last memories to be of Hux’s face. 

Nevertheless, his last memories never came and he was being transported onto a shuttle, already feeling the flurry of mechanical droids begin to peck at his wounds, bringing him back to life. He felt her presence, a blinding light in the back of his head. She was alive. 

And somewhere in space, aboard the Millennium Falcon, Rey felt a swell of darkness at the back of her head come back to breath from her. He was alive.


	3. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Origins of Rey

Chapter 2:

 

The first couple of weeks in the Academy went by fairly quickly for Rey. In fact, it was quite fun. Everyone was really nice to her, she thought, which in reality some liked to tease her but she really couldn’t tell the difference. Growing up with no family, running alone on the winding streets of Coruscant was hard and lonely. Now it feels like her life was only just beginning, thanks to the orphanage spotting her, dirty and alone on the sidewalk. Almost anyone she met was her family, anyone who talked to her was her friend, perhaps it was the naïve nature of a five year old or maybe it was just her eternal compassion.

Master Luke was really nice, the classes were exciting -playing with sticks and learning about embracing goodness-, and the food they served at the cafeteria was the best she’s ever eaten in her life. Ben always made faces when he saw her eat; he compared it to that of a wild animal. Speaking about that strange boy, Rey was glued to him like his very own shadow. It wasn’t just because he was the first person she met there- no, there was just something about him that she liked. 

With his awkward tallness, not quite grown in ears, and the mop of dark hair on his head, Rey found him quite funny. Ben didn’t like that, when she calls him funny looking. It only made her call him that more. 

He didn’t seem to enjoy her company as much as she did. He was always trying to shrug her groping hands off him, the ones that tried to sooth his clenching fists and he always hurried to everywhere he went like he was trying to get her off his tail. Eventually though, after the first week, he seemed to have grown accustomed to her presence near him. She hoped he even considered that he liked her presence near him. 

And dare he say it, he did like it, only in the manner by which whenever the tiny youngling wasn’t there, it felt like something was missing. And when the girl was there, the feeling of being terribly annoyed was back. 

And something in the Force seemed to pulsate as if it was a living thing, with a beating heart.

So that was how Rey found herself crawling on the ground after the younglings’ lightsaber practice ended, and poking her head through bushes, dirt scuffing up her clothes. Through the leaves that brushed at her face, she managed to get a great view. There he is. She was in awe momentarily to be able to see him using the Force to levitate a couple boulders from the cliffside, she often forgot the rumors of how strong with the Force he was, but the admiration soon worn off and a devious smile grew in its place, stretching her cheeks. Her mind whirled for an idea to scare him with. 

“What are you doing?” a familiar voice whispered from right behind her, so close to her ear. Rey would’ve screamed if it were not for Ben Solo sitting a couple feet away, meditating. 

She twisted around, shooting daggers at Speeds Utiche. How had he managed to find me? She was small enough to be completely hidden within the bushes. “Force sense. Has Luke been teaching you at all?” he answered her wonder lightheartedly. 

How did he know what she was thinking?

He shrugged at that. Did that mean Ben could tell she was there too?

“He’s not focusing on you, he’s meditating,” Speeds reassured the girl.

Scared of her plans being foiled, Rey hissed at Ben’s partner in crime to get lost, “Go away! You’re too loud!” 

“No, I’m already here, I want to see what you do to the poor guy.” Rey was going to object but Speeds was already settling down on the floor, his long, skinny legs being drawn across each other in a sitting position.

“Make one noise and I’ll never talk to you again,” she warned before turning away to look back at Ben. It was an empty threat he knew but it made him silent. 

Before Rey could grasp what was happening, she was no longer in the bushes. In fact, she was no longer on solid ground. She was floating. Her mouth opened, a broken cry about to flow from her lungs, before a sudden sensation of calmness washed over her. And she knew nothing bad was going to happen.

Is she doing this?

The Force around her felt gentle as if it knew she was fragile. It carried her like a feather across the clearing and right above Ben. It felt magical, floating. It was absurd and ridiculous all at the same time. And Rey couldn’t contain the bubbling of laughter in her chest.

Startled by the noise, Ben snapped open his eyes and wildly looked around, only to see the little girl waving down at him. “What the f-“, he started, “Rey, how are you doing that?” Maybe he had underestimated her. For being so new to the Force, that was impossible.

Gleaming with smugness, Rey was placed back down on the floor. She darted her eyes for a moment to check the bushes and saw Speeds now vanished. She would have to thank him for this later. “I’m just better than you,” she said matter-of-factly, her hands posed on her tiny hips.

He kind of looked scared at first, his brown eyes widening considerably. His face always told her what he was thinking. He couldn’t hide anything. It took him a moment to regain his composure, flitting his eyes away from hers and clearing his throat, “You didn’t do that.” Rey could sense he was unsure by his own words.

Maybe one day she will tell him she had help. But for now, the five-year-old girl liked watching him squirm with the thought that she would be more powerful than him. She didn’t ever think that day would actually come. Rey was still new to the Force but she sensed it, she felt it about as much as she felt anything else with her other five senses, and she most definitely felt Ben’s powerful aura. It was not scary; it was a kind, good aura. Sometimes it wavered with disturbance, but it was always comforting.   
She liked it.

“Can I meditate with you?” Rey was already placing herself down right next to him.

“No, you distract me.”

“But you’re my friend right?” she asked, her voice was high with hope. She grinned ear to ear, nudging his knee with her own. 

He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes and sighed, “No, it’s pathetic to have a friend who’s about eight years younger than me.” 

“I think it’s more pathetic to have no friends at all.”

Ben visibly straightened up at that, reminding Rey of how she despised how hunched he always was, like he was perpetually aware of how tall he was. “I have friends,” he brushed it off, but she could tell by his face she struck a nerve. “You’re an annoying kid.”

“I know,” Rey smiled. 

She decided to let him have this own. 

__________________________________________________________

 

Luke Skywalker was teaching her too slow.

 

Rey understood he was reluctant because of his failed Jedi academy, but at the rate they were going she wasn’t going to be ready until another couple years; she didn’t have that time. Ready for what, she did not really know. Perhaps, being ready for Kylo Ren and banishing the First Order along with his wicked soul. She had beaten him this time, but the next…she was not looking forward to it. He had already been shot and had already fought Finn before her, even wounded, he was not easy to put down. She could only wonder what he could do at a hundred percent. The thought of it sent shivers rolling down her spine, remembering of the palpitating aura of overwhelming darkness surrounding him, it practically shivered in excitement, more so when he was in her presence.   
She still remembered seeing his cloaked form appear to her for the first time, surging towards her like a shadow. A strong silhouette with broad shoulders and a powerful stride, exuding untamed energy. She had initially thought he was some creature of darkness and dusk, which he was, but not the same creature with the face he had shown her under that glinting mask. He was some different monster all together, a certainty of dark seduction simmering in those black eyes.

She found herself thinking about him more and more, despite it being months after the Starkiller Base incident. It was fear and excitement all at once. And something else within the Force…she felt him. She didn’t speak of the strange sensation to Luke, now Master Luke, because she felt he would cancel the teachings all together at the slightest indication of turbulence. 

Rey needed these teachings. To save her friends. And maybe her family…wherever they were, or whoever they were.

 

Luke Skywalker was teaching her too fast.

On the first day of the third month on Ahch-To, Rey had awoken to him staring at the sea, reminiscent to when they first met, but this time, the green lightsaber was in his robotic hand. He had simply looked at her and began to teach her the ways of the Force and the ways of wielding the ancient Jedi weapons. It was a rush of information, such a change in pace, but it was welcoming and Rey had the uncanny feeling that she had learned these things before. It naturally came to her in this way.  
Now there she was, battling with her yellow saberstaff, rain and wind pelting and licking at her hair and face viciously. Her three buns were beginning to completely unravel as she continued their dance. Luke, on the other hand, looked better than he had in perhaps years, with shorter hair and a now trimmed beard. It was a sharp contrast from the unkempt man she first met, with wary eyes and a wild appearance. As for her, Rey knew her appearance changed. Less juvenile, a full woman now.   
Green and yellow beams of light flashed brightly in the gloom of the storm whipping around the island. Their lightsabers locked, both of them in deep focus. Luke called to her loudly over the rain, “Just a bit more Rey. Focus. Focus.”  
She closed her eyes and honed in on the invisible energy around them, just like she did with Kylo. “Use the storm as an outward manifestation of your troubles!”   
The storm seemed to pick up as he said that.  
Flicking her eyes back open, Rey backed out, her lightsaber unlocking from the stance they had. Luke didn’t say anything, he only turned his saber off, the green glow retreating. “You have come very far way Rey,” he observed with a gentle smile. He was always quiet, patient, never mad. She wished she could be more like him in that way.

“Does that mean I can bring you home now? Leia is waiting.” Rey desperately wanted to go back to, in a way, the Resistance was her home too; Jakku never was in the end of it wall. She missed Finn badly also.

She squinted through the rain, her hair beginning to mop around her shoulders. She could stay for hours in the downpour. After years of deprivation of water and never once seeing rain fall freely to her, storms always made her giddy with anticipation and happiness. She would never see another desert again, just miles and miles of forests and oceans. He shook his head lightly, “Almost Rey, almost. Come inside.” And ever so cryptic he was. She tried hard not to be annoyed.

Waving his hand for her to follow him, Luke led her back to the primal stone huts, the rain pounding harder behind them as they entered his personal quarters. A fire was already started in the fireplace of the odd architecture. Rey shuffled closer to it, relishing in the warmth for once in her life. Luke brushed past her, his wet robes tickling her side, as he brought a pot of water to the fireplace. 

“I can’t return just yet. Not now,” he seemed to read her mind. It still didn’t answer it though.

“But why? The Resistance needs your help; can’t you see what has happened? To the Republic, to Han -you guys were old friends.” Her voice sounded exasperated even to her own ears. 

“There is a reason for everything, that is one thing you must learn.”

Another riddle. But she has grown perseverance. “A reason?”

“Yes, in the past, before I myself was a Jedi master, I was on a quest to find the last of the Jedi. After learning and being friends with him for quite some time, I know that Han was a sacrifice. It is what Ben will need to turn back.”

Now it seemed to be that her questions were starting to go somewhere. Normally, he answered with the same enigmatic tone, another question for her to every answer. 

“Ben?” Rey whispered, interest evident in her voice.

He leant in closer, with a pause full of unresolved tension, “Yes Ben, the one you faced on Starkiller base, Han’s son.” 

Rey felt the air being robbed from her lungs. Kylo Ren…was Han’s very own blood. Luke personally knew that monster, the young man -the boy behind the faceless mask. Now that she thought of it, it made sense: what happened on that fateful bridge, Han touching his face with that of a father’s last memory, the clear distaste in Kylo’s voice for Han Solo in the interrogation room, how he ‘would have disappointed her’ as a father. Now that she pondered it, there was also the similarity between their facial structures. “Han’s son? Why are you telling me this just now?” She tried not to sound angry, but it only came out more apparent. 

“I did not want to frighten you. You must know that he was student of mine, along with many others. He was a troubled kid, something very menacing loomed over him. I felt it, both Leia and me did. We decided to never tell Han, as things could have gotten worse. Ben had many problems; Leia decided to send him to me. He started off fine at first, but in time, Rey, he killed everyone, all of them. It was all because of Snoke. That’s why you must not be afraid to face him again. Rey, I can say one thing. You are gifted in the force and that comes from a very special place.”

Luke paused, his cautious blue eyes judging her reaction. She still needed answering…reassurance.

“He’s alive still,” Rey stated, “I think you know that, why else would you suddenly train me so hard?”

“Because I recognized changes in the force, not of him, but in you. You know what I’m talking about. You desperately try to hide it. That feeling of connectedness, of emotion on the other end of the line that comes at random. A bond. Leia and I shared it; I could feel when she got in trouble or what she was feeling if I really needed to, it was like we could talk to each other but with no words.”

“What are you implying?” She felt her heartbeat rebel against her façade of calmness and pump blood faster.

“A force bond.”

“What? What is that?” Rey felt it was exactly what it sounded like. She knew it within her that Luke was right. Dread formed like a stone at the bottom of her stomach, hard and cold. Though she couldn’t help the thread of curiosity within her.

“Ben and you have always had this strange dance.” He looked off, his eyes suddenly distant. The past relived in his pale blues. 

“What does that mean? What do you know?” Rey was urgent. She had always felt people knew more about her than she did, but now it was right in front of her. The answers to the long living question in her head, the one that rang out in the echoes of her mind every hour of the day: who are you? Luke Skywalker knew. This was the first indication that he actually knew her. That she had a past. 

And Rey could tell he had already said too much. He was going to give up nothing else. For that, she couldn’t stand Luke at times.

“You’ll learn in time.”

This was not happening. Rey’s eyes widened and she grasped at his calloused hand, desperate for him to hear her, to have mercy on her.

“No, I need to know. Tell me.” She has been deprived of answers her whole life.

“Tell me,” she repeated again.

“Tell me now.” Again.

“Tell me!” And again. 

He was only silent, succumbed to his fits of recollecting the past, staring off into the stonewall, unshaken by her frantic attempts at shaking him into telling her about herself. And she stormed off, wanting to wash her tears away with the rain.


End file.
